All intensives are currently held by established SBM practitioners who have learnt with me. Please contact me for a list of practitioners and see my newsletter for latest offerings.
SOMATIC BODY MAPPING FOR WOMEN (cisgender and transgender) AND NON-BINARY PERSONS recognises that certain aspects of the deep feminine only find expression in the intimate company of others who identify partly or fully as women. It is the timber of our voices, the quality of our listening, the knowing of our touch and the sharing of our shared joys and sufferings as women that make it possible to sink deeply into the feminine body and soul.
The practice of Somatic Body Mapping allows us to tread those inner landscapes with wonder and discernment. In body meditations we drop into those places that call for our attention. Through drawing, painting and sculpting we give colour, form and texture to our experiences. We trace our shape on canvas and mark the life inside. Step by step, touch after touch, we map out our journey.
Throughout, we return to the circle of women where we speak from the heart and hear our truth. Ritual further integrates our personal experiences into the lineage of women gone before and coming after.
The INTENSIVES take place within an intimate and confidential circle of women. It is held in the spirit of retreat and healing. The small size of the circle allows everyone to fully take their place and space whilst being safely held and accompanied during their personal explorations and discoveries. Each intensive is facilitated by Annette Schwalbe, at times together with an assistant who shares the experience and passion for somatic body mapping.
Gentle care and sensitive attention are given to the small and big things that move and shine through us. I also hold with warmth and confidence those experiences that are stored with pain or lack of feeling in your body. As somatic body mapping follows a process of creatively conceiving and coming into human form we will also be working with the subtle resonances of your prenatal and birth experiences. This might touch places in you that feel vulnerable yet, as they are safely processed, can lead to new healing experiences.
We will attend to this area of early experience right from the time of preparation for the intensive with the help of the specially designed Body Life Form. Answering the unborn/baby/child/woman&non-binary centred questions on the form helps your body and psyche to attune to what is most important to be with right now. A half an hour Zoom conversation with Annette prior to the start of the series further helps to settle into the somatic body mapping exploration ahead.
The intensives allow for the inner landscape of your lived body to become more visible, more accessible and more meaningful. It enables you to gain a new perspective on old habits and difficulties, deeply appreciate your creative power, and celebrate what flourishes in and through you.
Each INTENSIVE is themed in harmony with natures seasons to support our reconnection with our own wild nature. The consideration of seasonal cycles finds its relationship with our bodily, emotional and life cycles as women. Whilst body mapping, the artistic use of materials collected in nature further support this reconnection with what is natural with itself.
Completion of one Intensive also allows creative arts therapists, psychotherapists and counsellors to apply for the yearlong SOMATIC BODY MAPPING MENTORSHIP through which you can integrate somatic body mapping into your own creative and therapeutic practice